Category: Guest Speaker

The third speaker was Jonny Fewings working in Media Consultancy. While the basis of the talk was more to do with final information and making films, I did find it informative and interesting. I can not see myself making films anytime soon but never the less there was useful advise for planning and budgeting, which could be useful in a number of media profession. One thing that I hadn’t realized before was that films can be brought at both ends of the spectrum, from already being filmed and edited to a simple script. The different films along this spectrum carry different risks. For example a company could buy a film in the early stages (script) it would cost less to buy, but a lot more money is needed for the production. However on the other hand you could buy a already made film, which is more expensive and then the film isn’t successful in the cinema. There are a number of thinks that he mentioned to consider, such as budget control, Effects, Location, Music, Technology and Funding. While much of this is to do with producing films I think I could use it in conjunction with Photography and social media management. For example, in order to produce a cost effective social media campaign I have to take into consideration how am I going to create this content. Which might lead into budgeting for a photo shoot, or using specific software to create images and posts.

Jonny Fewings also went into potential funding, and how to gain access to that funding in order to make a film. Although it would take a lot of planning it made me understand that even I could potentially make a very low budget film to a high quality. It makes these massive Hollywood successes feel a little less out of reach to achieve.

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Natalie Cheary was the second guest speaker we had talk to us, she explained to us her background in the PR industry and her career progression. As she stated in her talk she ‘started off by annoying the spice girls’ but then she started to work with them on their merchandise deals. Once she moved into freelance work it gave her access to a wide range of projects. This idea of freelance work dose sound more and more appealing, it would allow me to work across a wide range of companies and platforms. However as suggested with freelance, half the battle is building up contacts and being able to use those contacts successfully. Other wise no one will know about you and so they wont want to work with you. One of the main bits of advice I took away from this talk was the idea of making yourself indispensible, by learning a wide verity of skills. Also if you have skills such as photo editing and film production/ direction then this makes you invaluable to the company, as they don’t need to out source for that and instead have an in house production staff. PR itself is based on relationships and connections as a PM manager you have to be the connection between the media and your client. That being said while building up a rapport with your client, you also need to build up contacts and a rapport with the press. This way you can have better access to the stories that might run. Telling a Journalist ‘No comment’ or ‘you can’t run that’ is ill advised, as it hurts the relationship you might have with that journalist and also they will run the story anyway. Having an honest relationship with the press will allow you to be able to talk off the record when needed. There is a high turn over in the PR industry. In the PR industry you need to market yourself through networking and building up contacts, as being able to get your client to the right paper or on the right program can be made easier if you build up more contacts.

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The first speaker to come and talk to us was Lauren Bromley She explained her progression into the position that she is currently in, as a social media manager. Her main advise was make sure that it is right for you, as she had found that the hours were not a typical 9 to 5 job and so if its not something which interests you in the long run it might not be for you. She suggested also to do your research not only into a professional job but also at a internship level, this can be done by asking the right questions online, going to career talks and events. Some key skills, which she associated with the position, are Communication skills, Hardworking, Adaptability (in order to keep up with the latest information) and being prepared for anything. It could be suggested that thee skills are ones shard by a number of different industries in the media sector and the marketing sector.

Moving back to the idea of asking the right questions, She used as example of her own experience where she didn’t ask the right questions about a position, leaving that position relatively early on due to feeling that it was not the right position for her. There were a few questions, which might be useful to remember from her talk. What did you expect from me? And what am I expected to do on a day-to-day job? These questions I think would be very helpful in multiple interview situations. Would this be the type of career that I want? I do like the idea of being able to be creative and having a level of flexibility to my work, as she said that one day she could be writing a social media post and then the next be on a photo shoot for a client’s campaign. The dedication to the job and the hours, are one thing that I think might make me hesitant for going for such a position, that being said once graduated from university the commitments on my time would be reduced.